Wheels of Addis

I thought I would share some pictures of London in the winter. I was planning to post on Christmas day, but I was felled by a bit of a virus and am only emerging from my sick bed today.

The last couple of weeks have been all about snow and ice. My neighbourhood was blanketed in snow for quite some time - longer than I’ve ever seen in London. Going to work became a real slog. Here we were waiting for a very delayed train into town at 8am one morning:

But as soon as the holidays started, I finally got to enjoy the weather as I hopped on my bike and peddled around my neighbourhood instead of heading into work.

There is a great big hill near our house with a park in the middle and houses all around. Up one side of the hill is my “nemesis”, a very steep road that climbs and climbs and seems to go on forever. Just before Christmas, I vowed to defeat it - and defeat it I did. I went all the way up the hill, struggling on without stopping (but with a lot of wheezing). At the top, I was greeted by beautiful views and a nice descent through a picturesque road.

Here’s the local park at the top of the hill and yet more snow:

I went back to my parents’ house in Fulham for Christmas eve. The snow was now long gone but the cold weather wasn’t budging. My brother Alex and I decided to go on a bike ride together. We peddled up to Kensington High Street and stopped at Whole Foods to get some last minute supplies for the feast to follow. On the way home, we admired the beautiful houses and pretty Christmas trees standing the windows.

The big day arrived and as the turkey roasted, the whole family headed out to Richmond Park. I got straight on my bike and went as fast and as far as I could without stopping. Man, was there a major hill to climb. Yet another nemesis to defeat! I now know there are two ways around the park - the one that takes you over nice slopes and the one with the nasty hill that you practically need crampons to climb. Either way, I pushed ever onwards. Santa got me new padded cycling shorts and I’m sure those helped me along the way.

The views along the way were spectacular:

There were even a few deer to admire (I hope you can see them)…

I’ve been off my bike for two days now and I can’t wait to get back on it. I’m shaking off the last of this virus and I’m hoping that tomorrow will bring more arctic adventures with wildlife to boot. Watch this space!